‘CHOLA’ PICTURES PROMPT DISCUSSIONS, CAMPUS SIT-IN

Greek community at UCSD denounces ‘acts of ignorance’

Sorority and fraternity leaders at UC San Diego have joined in a call for racial sensitivity on college campuses after a recent incident at Cal State San Marcos in which sorority members dressed as “cholas” posted photos on social networking sites.

The photos sparked an outcry among some Latino students at the San Marcos campus and led to at least two meetings in which faculty, students and sorority members talked about the photographs, which some considered disrespectful and offensive.

A few dozen students protested outside the university’s Craven Hall Thursday afternoon and then shifted to outside President Karen Haynes’ office to stage a sit-in, demanding that she do more to address their concerns. Campus officials said Haynes was at another event, encouraging Native Americans to enroll at the campus. They offered to set up a meeting with her at a later date.

After hearing about the photographs last week, several Greek organizations at UC San Diego released a statement denouncing “all acts of ignorance and intolerance.”

The word cholo has various meanings in Latin culture, but it most often refers to a person in the lower rungs of society. Among U.S. Latinos, it can refer to gang members or Mexican-Americans who dress in a certain style, such as loose-fitting khaki pants, flannel shirts and bandanas.

The pictures were taken during a spring break retreat by members of the Alpha Chi Omega sorority. They show several young women, including some Latinas who are members of the sorority, wearing bandanas and flannel shirts, and making gang-style gestures with their hands.

Latino student organizations and some faculty members likened the images to the “Compton Cookout” organized by a fraternity at UC San Diego two years ago, mocking Black History Month.

Meanwhile, at UC Irvine, the Lambda Theta Delta fraternity has suspended itself for a year after members recently produced and released a video that featured a student in blackface.

The Greek community at UCSD issued a statement Friday because it wanted to address such incidents, said Leah Wong, president of the university’s Panhellenic Sorority Council.

The statement was signed by the Panhellenic Sorority Council, the Multicultural Greek Council and the Interfraternity Council, which represent more than 30 fraternities and sororities on campus. Wong said it was intended “to express our support towards the communities who feel discriminated against and formally reaffirm our own commitment to being a socially just Greek community.”

At Cal State San Marcos, Alpha Chi Omega President Megan Koelln tearfully apologized for the photographs during an April 30 meeting of students, faculty and university officials at Cal State San Marcos.

“It was a mistake and a lack of education on our part,” Koelln said.

Some Cal State San Marcos students said there have been other incidents in recent years that have increased tensions on campus.

A picture of Haynes and campus Vice President for Finance and Administrative Services Linda Hawk, dressed up in Mexican hats and ponchos at a fiesta-themed party in 2008, resurfaced in recent days. Some students said the picture was an example of offensive stereotypes about Latinos.